Ingredients combine with craft to make beer
This page is continually improving.​
This page is not intended as a sole source of information but as a general reference for those interested in learning basic homebrewing.​
​We've attempted to present the right amount of information in the best possible format.
Boiling: Hopping the Wort
Hops have a primary purpose to introduce alpha acids into the solution to act as a preservative, but that means they also impart acidic elements- bitterness and acrid smell- to the beer. Without hops, beer would have the characteristics of bread porridge. ​​
Hops in Temperate Climates
Hops can be found throughout the temperate zone but are most prevalent in select geographical regions. While they vary greatly in their bitterness and aroma based on these factors, their primary use is in beer production.
Hops in Brewing
Hops are available for brewing in 4 types:
Pellets: This is the most common format, given the ease of storage and use. Measure the desired quantity and add at prescribed interval.
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Dried: Common with non-commercial hops, cones are dried. You need about twice the volume as pelletized hops given relative weight.
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Fresh ("Wet"): Hops recently harvested, cones are green. You need about 2.5 the volume as pelletized hops given relative weight.
Growing & Harvesting your own Hops
Hops prefer slightly acidic soil and require a vertical trellis (pole, etc) and lines. They grow in clumps using a rhizome system, but those rhizomes also form hard nodes after continued growth. Bines (since they grow vertically, vines grow horizontally) grow up the trellised wires. Upon reaching full height, the bines either grow outward or hang. Hops also can strangle themselves, if they are not managed.
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Cones develop and within them are contained the lupulin glands that secrete the hop oils needed in brewing.
Adding Bitterness & Aroma
You can buy your hops pelletized, loose leaf, or fresh...or you can even grow your own.
Adding Hops to the Boil
To avoid hop particles, we recommend using a muslin bag or a mesh hop spider.​
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Hops are added at two distinct times in the boil.
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Bittering hops are added at the start (60 mins) and up to 35 minutes into the boil, so there is enough time for all of the hop oil to become infused in the wort.
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Aroma hops are added in the last 15 minutes of the boil, so that less hop oil is infused and more aroma remains.
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Consult the recipe for the timing.
Brew - Innovate - Enjoy - Repeat​